


In the Middle of Chaos

by kineticmethod



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, a bit of angst, and then fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 02:32:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18228725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kineticmethod/pseuds/kineticmethod
Summary: Enjolras stared into his eyes for just one moment that felt like an entire lifetime. And then, with a tenderness that did not belong on this battlefield, he leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss to Grantaire’s forehead.Grantaire has a nightmare, and Enjolras is there to ease his fears.





	In the Middle of Chaos

**Author's Note:**

> So the setting is loosely based on both the stage production barricade and the 2012 movie. It's mostly inspired by the US Tour Enjolras and Grantaire, who shared a brief forehead kiss right before Enjolras runs up the barricade to die.

_Gunfire. Cannon shots. The acrid smell of gunpowder mixed with the metallic tang of blood filled the air. It seemed as if the world was collapsing. The great wall made of furniture thrown from windows and taken from the lower levels of the surrounding buildings was slowly being blown apart, and his friends were going with it._

_Was that Feuilly who just fell back to the cobbled street? Bahorel who slumped down as if he were sleeping? A body fell to its back right next to him. Marius. Grantaire crouched down to see if their newest member had perished for the cause he had just begun to support. He placed his hand over his chest, feeling the light, fluttering pulse there beneath his palm. When he looked up, he saw him. Their glorious leader in red. Apollo himself. Enjolras._

_Enjolras joined him in his assessment of Marius. Maybe, just maybe, Marius would come out of this alive. Then he could see his beloved again. But Grantaire knew that he and the rest of his friends would most definitely not live to see the sunrise. There was no way to help Marius now, no time to try to bandage the bullet wounds on his arm and leg, no time to move him to the safety of the Musain. Not while their friends were falling around them as the National Guard pushed forward. They could only hope that God or whoever was watching from above would save at least one of them._

_The fighting reached a fever pitch, and the cries of his friends could be heard over the shots of cannons and guns. Enjolras looked at the barricade, at his fallen friends, and looked back at Grantaire. Somehow, in the middle of the chaos of the battle, his gaze was still filled with such an intensity that Grantaire was almost taken aback. But this was Enjolras, and intense was his standard. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this gaze must have been filled with millions and millions of words that were never spoken, that never would be spoken now._

_Enjolras stared into his eyes for just one moment that felt like an entire lifetime. And then, with a tenderness that did not belong on this battlefield, he leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss to Grantaire’s forehead._

_Before he could process what had happened, Enjolras had run off. He climbed up to the middle of the barricade and waved the red flag that had announced their revolution to all who saw it. He was unarmed, using only his feet and the flagpole to knock back the advancing National Guardsmen. Then, he turned back for the briefest moment, haloed in what little sunlight had begun to show over the horizon, before he fell backwards, dead._

_Grantaire knew that he could not live in a world without Enjolras, without any of Les Amis. He could have very easily climbed over one of their smaller barricades at the back of the Musain and run off, lived the rest of his life drinking away the horrors he had seen during the last 24 hours, but he knew he couldn’t. He wouldn’t die for this cause, but he would die for those who supported it._

_He climbed up the same way Enjolras had, hoping he may fall near their marble lover of liberty. His head had barely breached the top of the barricade when he was hit-_

“Grantaire! Wake up, R. It’s just a dream.”

Grantaire’s eyes snapped open. He was in his and Enjolras’s bed. Enjolras had turned the lamp on his nightstand on, and it dimly lit the room. His eyes darted to the clock. 3:13.

Enjolras was looking at him with a dazed intensity, clearly not fully awake yet. “You had a nightmare, R.”

“No really? I hadn’t noticed,” Grantaire rasped out. He raised himself up to a sitting position then rested his head in his hands. Enjolras sat up fully as well and scooted closer to Grantaire, wrapping his arm around the other’s shoulder. Grantaire turned into Enjolras’s embrace, hiding himself from the horrors he had seen in his dream. His heart was pounding and his breathing had clearly picked up during his nightmare.

“Hey, R, I need you to breathe with me. You can do it. You’re safe. We’re both okay. Whatever it was, it’s gone now,” Enjolras said with a soothing tone. He then started to breathe, a bit exaggeratedly, helping Grantaire slow his own breathing.

It slowly started to work. Grantaire’s breathing had mostly evened out, and he felt his tense muscles relax. Most of the dream had, thankfully, faded by now, but he still remembered the intensity in Enjolras’s gaze, and the way he seemed almost holy, glowing with the light of day and his revolutionary fervor.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Enjolras asked.

Grantaire began to stumble his way through the fading details, “Umm, well, it was like we were in some sort of battle. All of us, not just, like, you and me. It looked like one of those barricades from history books and stuff. And, like, everyone was dying, and Marius got hurt, and you and I were checking to see if we could help him, but we couldn’t. And you ran up the barricade and died, then I followed you, and I got shot, and that’s when I woke up.”

“Damn, Grantaire, that’s pretty frightening. No wonder you seemed so freaked out. Do you feel better now?” Enjolras asked.

“Yeah, a bit. Can we stay like this for a little more though?” Grantaire replied.

“Of course,” Enjolras assured. He started to rock them, just a bit, and then he started to hum. Grantaire recognized the tune, but didn’t actually know what song it was. He just knew it was a song that Enjolras’s mother would sing to him when he was a child. Enjolras had mostly forgotten the words, but he remembered the melody clear as day. It was a peaceful tune, and he hoped it would help Grantaire calm down the rest of the way. And it did. His combination of humming and rocking allowed Grantaire to release the last bit of tension from his muscles and fully relax in Enjolras’s arms.

Enjolras pulled back a bit, looking Grantaire in the eyes. Grantaire got a sudden shock, feeling as though he was once again in his dream. Enjolras was looking at him with an intensity, but this time a softer one, one that spoke only of love and concern for his boyfriend. After a moment, Enjolras leaned forward and kissed Grantaire on the forehead, in the exact same spot he had in Grantaire’s dream.

Despite the chilling similarity the last few moments had to his dream, Grantaire felt completely safe and relaxed in his boyfriend’s arms. He allowed himself to stay there for a moment longer before asking, “Are you ready to sleep again?”

Enjolras replied, “Are you sure? We can stay up a bit longer if you need to.”

“No really, I’m fine now. Promise”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The two laid back down and Enjolras turned off the light. They gravitated towards each other until they were held loosely in the other’s embrace, where they stayed for the rest of the night, free of any nightmares.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you were wondering, the song I pictured Enjolras humming was "Sunshine on My Shoulders" because it's got a fairly calm melody and the lyrics (had he sung them) are kinda sweet and peaceful.


End file.
